Music notation system

ABSTRACT

A music notation system uses a grid with vertical columns representing musical notes and horizontal rows representing time intervals. Each note of a musical piece is indicated by a selected note symbol in the appropriate column, and extending across multiple rows if intended to be sounded for more than one time interval. Different note symbol shapes are used to indicate different tone qualities or playing styles. Note symbols are colored or graphically textured to indicate different sound intensities. Suggested fingerings may be indicated by numbers marked the note symbols, or by lines connecting notes to be played with the same finger. Other graphical design elements may be used to display rhythmic or harmonic context and, in computerized applications, to show or hide selected musical information, or to activate and listen to a sound recording of a piece of music or individually selected notes.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 11/955,730,filed on Dec. 13, 2007 and now pending, which claims the benefit ofProvisional Application No. 60/870,203, filed on Dec. 15, 2006. Bothsaid applications are incorporated herein by reference in their entiretyfor continuity of disclosure.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates in general to music notation systems andmethods for teaching students to play musical instruments.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The standard system of music notation uses an upper (or treble) clef anda lower (or bass) clef, each clef having five parallel horizontal lines,with each line and intervening space representing a specific note on theA-G scale, corresponding to the white keys on a piano. To indicate thata particular note is to be played, an oval note symbol is centered onthe line, or marked in the space, corresponding to the desired note.When a desired note does not come within either of the standard clefs,supplemental spaced lines must be added above or below the appropriateclef, allowing the desired note to be marked on or adjacent to one ofthe added lines. A person reading the music thus notated can determinethe identity of a note above or below a clef with reference to thenumber of added lines.

When a desired note corresponds to one of the black keys on a piano, anote symbol is marked on a line or in a space corresponding to a noteadjacent to the desired note, and an “accidental” symbol (i.e., a“sharp” or “flat” symbol) is added to the note symbol, indicating thatthe note to be played is actually one half-tone higher or lower (as thecase may be) than the note symbol would otherwise suggest. Keysignatures are indicated by showing sharp or flat symbols at the leftend of each clef, corresponding to the sharp or flat notes in the scaleof the musical key in question (e.g., C major, E-flat minor, etc.). Thismakes it unnecessary to use accidentals every time the music calls for anote corresponding to a black key. At the same time, however, it cancomplicate matters for the music student, who must learn to rememberthat not every note symbol necessarily means what it might appear tomean at first glance, but must be interpreted with reference to therelevant key signature. Even for accomplished musicians, it makesmusic-reading more difficult in the case of compositions written in keyshaving a large number of sharps or flats.

In the standard notation system, vertical lines are drawn across theclefs to indicate the beginning or end of each bar (or “measure”) in amusical composition. A bar represents a specific number of beats (ortime intervals) corresponding to the time signature (i.e., tempo) of themusic. For example, a “¾” time signature indicates that 3 quarter-notes(or notes totalling the equivalent thereof) are to be played per bar(i.e., waltz tempo), whereas a “ 6/8” time signature indicates that 6eighth-notes are to be played per bar. The time signature is typicallyindicated at the left end of each clef. When a particular note symbolrequires an accidental, and when the same note is to be played more thanonce within the same bar, the accidental is applied only to the firstcorresponding note symbol in the bar, and the reader is to understandthat the same accidental is implied in respect of every othercorresponding note symbol in the bar. This convention avoids the need touse accidental symbols for each and every sharp or flat note, but itpresents yet another difficulty for someone learning to read and playmusic—once again, not every note symbol necessarily means what itindicates at first glance.

The standard notation system uses various ways to indicate the length ofa note, or the duration of time for which it is to be held. For example,if the oval note symbol is solidly shaded and has a vertical stem line,it indicates a quarter-note. A similar notation but with the oval notesymbol being unshaded, denotes a half-note. An unshaded note symbol withno stem line denotes a whole note, corresponding to the length of a bar.Notes of shorter duration than a quarter-note are indicated as forquarter-notes, but with one or two or more angled lines marked on thestem lines, with each angled line indicating that the note length is tobe half of what it would have been without the angled line. Forinstance, an eighth-note looks like a quarter-note with one angled lineof the stem, a sixteenth-note looks like a quarter-note with two angledlines, and so on. Another convention used in the standard notationsystem is to place a dot to the right of a note symbol, indicating thatthe note is to have a duration 50% greater than would otherwise havebeen suggested. For instance, a quarter-note with a dot beside it wouldhave a duration equal to one-and-a-half quarter-notes. As the precedingexamples illustrate, the standard music notation system incorporatesseveral different and non-intuitive conventions for indicating notelength, thus giving new students even more rules to remember as theylearn to read music.

The standard notation system uses a system of letters (e.g., p, mf, sfz,etc.) and symbols (e.g., for crescendos and accents) to indicate soundintensity, or volume. These markings can easily be misunderstood ormissed entirely.

Standard notation lacks an integrated system for indicating the harmonicstructure of a musical composition. While chord names (e.g., Bmin7) maybe included in some music scores and charts, the actual notes thatconstitute the chords are not shown. Likewise, the notes of the scalesor modes suitable for improvisation are not typically shown in standardnotation.

In addition to standard notation, many alternative systems have beendeveloped to visually represent music. Among these, “piano roll”notation and Klavarskribo (or Klavar) address some of the usabilityissues of standard notation, while neglecting or creating other issues.For example, piano roll notation, often seen in music productionsoftware, typically provides color coding, variable-length symbols toindicate note duration, and a chromatic keyboard-style layout. However,piano roll notation is best suited to music editing, rather thanlearning and performance. The user is presented with visualrepresentation of notes, but no guidance on which hand or finger playsthe notes, or design elements to provide context within the layout.Also, the connection lines in standard notation that indicate musicalphrases or groups of notes are absent in piano roll notation.

The foregoing discussion illustrates only some of the features of thestandard and known alternative music notation systems that make itdifficult for many people to learn to read and play music. In view ofsuch known difficulties associated with the standard notation system,there is a need for a new music notation system that is easier to readand learn. In particular, there is a need for a new music notationsystem that is less abstract that the standard system, by using noterepresentations that are visually referable to the notes on a keyboardinstrument. There is a further need for a new music notation system thatuses separate note indications for each specific musical tone, withoutrequiring special markings to indicate the musical octave in which adesired note is located. In addition, there is a need for a new musicnotation system that eliminates the need for accidental symbols toindicate notes corresponding to black keys on a keyboard music notationsystem, such that each note indication denotes precisely the same notein all contexts, regardless of the key signature. There is a yet furtherneed for a music notation system that provides a direct visualrepresentation of note lengths, thus eliminating the need to interpretnote indications in accordance with non-intuitive conventions in orderto determine how long the indicated notes are to be held. The presentinvention is directed to these needs.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In general terms, the present invention is a keyboard-based musicnotation system that uses a grid having vertical columns and horizontalrows, with the columns representing semitone intervals (each equivalentto a note in the chromatic scale), and the rows representing timeintervals (i.e., beats). Each column represents a specific musical tone(for example, middle C, or A-flat above high C) having a defined sonicfrequency (measured in cycles per second, or Hertz). Heavy horizontallines are used to indicate the beginning and end of bars or measures, orrhythmic groupings of beats. For example, every fourth horizontal linemay be a heavy line in music having a 4/4 time signature, whereas everythird horizontal line may be a heavy line for music in ¾ time (i.e.,waltz) or 12/8 time (i.e., swing).

In order to indicate a particular note from a musical composition, aselected note symbol is marked on the grid in the column correspondingto the desired note, at the intersection with the appropriate timeinterval row. In other words, the note symbol will lie within a “box”formed by the intersection of a given column and row. Where a note isintended to be held for more than one beat, the corresponding notesymbol is elongated to extend vertically across the appropriate numberof horizontal rows in the grid. The shape of the note symbols indicatestone quality or playing style (for example, legato or staccato), inaccordance with a specified tone quality protocol. Selected graphicaltreatments (e.g., colors, shading, cross-hatching, or other graphicaltexturing) are applied to the note symbols, in accordance with aspecified sound intensity protocol, to indicate the loudness with whicheach note is to be sounded. Connecting lines may be used to indicatenote groupings of notes, with the configuration of the connecting lines(e.g., solid, dotted, dashed, etc.) also denoting playing style ifdesired.

For notation of music intended to be played on a keyboard, suggestedfingerings may be indicated by digits placed inside the note symbols.Alternatively, fingerings may be indicated by lines drawn between notesto be played with the same finger. Additional graphical design elementsand methods may be used to display rhythmic context (e.g., groupings ofbeats) or harmonic context (e.g., underlying chords or scales); to showor hide different types of musical information (particularly inassociation with computerized or video applications of the notationsystem); or to activate and listen to a sound recording of a piece ofmusic or individually selected notes.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described withreference to the accompanying figures, in which numerical referencesdenote like parts, and in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates an A-major scale written on a music notation grid inaccordance with one embodiment of the notation system of the presentinvention, including notations relating to playing style, loudness, andsuggested fingering.

FIG. 2 illustrates an F-sharp minor arpeggio written in accordance withan embodiment of the notation system, indicating that the arpeggio is tobe played softly but with accents on selected notes.

FIG. 3 illustrates how chords and sustained notes may be indicated inaccordance with one embodiment of the notation system of the presentinvention.

FIG. 4 is an exemplary illustration of a musical passage written inaccordance with an alternative embodiment of the notation system,demonstrating the use of symbols to indicate harmonic context.

FIG. 5 is an exemplary illustration of a musical passage written inaccordance with an embodiment of the notation system, demonstrating theoptional use of connection lines for legato and staccato notes, and forgrouping notes according to left and right hands.

FIG. 6 illustrates a musical passage with suggested fingerings shown inaccordance with one embodiment of the notation system.

FIG. 7 illustrates a musical passage with suggested fingerings shown inaccordance with one embodiment of the notation system.

FIG. 8 illustrates a legend that shows the context of a musical piece,when only a portion of the keyboard is used.

FIG. 9 illustrates a musical passage with supplementary columns forindicating guitar chord diagrams and sustain pedal usage.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

In the preferred embodiment, the music notation system of the presentinvention uses a grid laid out in a fashion analogous to a pianokeyboard, as illustrated in FIG. 1, with vertical columns (or “keycolumns”) 10W corresponding to the white keys on a piano, and keycolumns 10B corresponding to the black keys on a piano. Key columns 10Wand 10B are intersected by horizontal rows (or “beat rows”) 20 whichrepresent time intervals or beats. The beginning and end of each bar ormeasure or rhythmic grouping of beats in a given musical piece areindicated by heavy horizontal lines (or “bar lines”) 22. Optionally,graphical rhythm indication means may be applied to selected groups ofbeat rows, to denote emphasis on particular beats or to otherwiseindicate suggested rhythms for performance of the music. In preferredembodiments, the graphical rhythm indication means will be in the formof shading or coloring applied to selected beat rows. However, personsskilled in the art will appreciate that the graphical rhythm indicationmeans could be provided in various alternative forms that will visuallydistinguish the selected beat rows from other beat rows in the grid.

Key columns 10B corresponding to black keys on a piano are preferablyblack or otherwise darkly shaded, thus providing a sharp visual contrastfrom key columns 10W corresponding to the white keys on a piano. Forsimplicity, key columns 10W and 10B may be of equal width, but thesewidths preferably will be made different to assist the user indifferentiating keys. For example, in FIGS. 1-3, the key columns 10Wcorresponding to natural notes B, C, E, and F are shown distinctly widerthan the key columns 10B, making the grid more visually analogous to akeyboard and thus facilitating the identification of individual notes.

Using a grid of this type, no interpretation is required in order todetermine which notes are to be played, and the need for sharp, flat,and natural symbols is eliminated. As illustrated in the Figures, musicwritten in accordance with the notation system of the present inventionis read vertically, either upward or downward depending on thepreference of the composer or transcriber of the music, and/or thegraphical medium being used to display the music. For example, it may bepreferable for digitally-displayed music (e.g., on a computer monitor)to be read upward, while music on printed/paper copies is to be readdownward.

The number of key columns (10W, 10B) in the grid may be adjustedaccording to the range of notes used in a particular musical piece. Forexample, if the notes within a musical piece (or musical passage) spanless than one octave (i.e., 12 semitones), the number of columns may bereduced to 12. In order to indicate the particular octave or octaveswithin which the piece (or passage) is to be played, a keyboard contextlegend may be provided in association with the notated music. In apreferred embodiment of the system, and as shown in FIG. 8, the contextlegend is provided in the form of a representation 88 of a pianokeyboard, with shading 90 applied to the section of representativekeyboard 88 corresponding to the octaves in the notated music. Althoughshown in large scale in FIG. 8, representative keyboard 88 willpreferably be small compared to the grid of the notation system, suchthat it can be shown fairly unobtrusively adjacent to the grid whereverthe music requires a change in keyboard context.

In order to write or notate a particular note from a musical compositionusing the present music notation system, a selected note symbol 30 ismarked on the grid in the key column (10W or 10B) corresponding to thedesired note, at the intersection with the appropriate beat row 20. Inother words, the note symbol 30 will lie within a “box” 25 formed by theintersection of a given key column (10W or 10B) and beat row 20. Theshape of the note symbol 30 indicates tone quality or playing style, inaccordance with a specified tone quality protocol In accordance with apreferred tone quality protocol as shown in the Figures, a square orrectangular note symbol 30 indicates a smooth legato playing style (asin FIG. 1, for example), whereas circular note symbols indicate astaccato style calling for the note to be sounded and quickly released(see FIG. 2).

Although the tone quality protocol described herein uses rectangular andcircular note symbols 30 to denote legato and staccato playing stylesrespectively, the use of these particular shapes or any alternativeshapes are purely matters of choice, and are not essential to thepresent invention. Persons skilled in the art of the invention willappreciate that additional or alternative note symbol shapes (e.g.,triangles, diamonds, hexagons, octagons, ovals, freeform shapes) couldbe used to indicate legato, staccato, and/or other playing styles,without departing from the basic concept of the present invention.

If a note is to be held for a full beat (for example, the equivalent ofa quarter-note in standard notation), the note symbol will a rectangularshape occupying the entire intersection box 25 in question. This can beseen from FIG. 1, in which all indicated notes are analogous toquarter-notes. If a note is to be held longer than one beat, therectangular shape is simply extended vertically to occupy all of theboxes 25 corresponding to the number of beats for which the note is tobe held. For example, FIG. 3 shows rectangular note symbols 30C and 30Danalogous to semitones F-sharp and B respectively, each occupying twovertically contiguous intersection boxes 25. To indicate a whole note(i.e., equivalent to four beats), in a grid where each beat row 20corresponds to a quarter-note, the note symbol would be extended tooccupy four vertically contiguous boxes 25.

FIG. 3 also illustrates how chords can be written using the notationsystem of the present invention. In FIG. 3, staccato note symbols 30Eare shown in the key columns corresponding to D-sharp, F-sharp, and B,which form a B-major chord. These notes are repeated in every secondbeat row, indicating that the B-major chord is to be played in staccatofashion on the second and fourth beats of each bar (in a 4/4 timesignature).

A system of lines or shapes or other appropriate note-grouping means maybe used to connect, associate, or group notes. In a preferred embodimentof the notation system, notes played with the left hand are connected byone set of lines, and notes played with the right hand are connected byanother set of lines. For example, in FIG. 3, lines 40A connect notes tobe played with the left hand, and lines 40B connect notes to be playedwith the right hand. Notes played in sequence occupy different rows inthe grid, and therefore are joined by angled lines (if the notes aredifferent) or vertical lines 42 (if the same note or notes arerepeated).

In FIG. 3, lines 40A are of solid form, denoting a smooth transitionbetween the connected notes (in keeping with the indicated legato notesymbols 30C and 30D). Notes played in a chord occupy the same row on thegrid, and are therefore joined by horizontal lines, to further indicatethat the notes are played at the same time. As illustrated in FIG. 3 byway of example, horizontal lines 40B between the notes of the B-majorchord (formed by staccato note symbols 30E) can be dotted or stippled toprovide an additional indicator or reminder that the chord is to beplayed staccato. However, this particular variant is not essential tothe present notation system; users may select or develop different linepattern protocols to indicate particular performance technique and styleinstructions or suggestions.

Optionally, notes played simultaneously with different hands may bejoined by a horizontal line, typically with a differentiating color orpattern than other lines. Connecting lines may also join notes that areplayed with the same finger. Notes may also be grouped together usingalternative note-grouping means, such as encircling or surroundingshapes such as ovals, rectangles, or other multisided (e.g., hexagonal,octagonal) or freeform shapes. These shapes do not necessarily need toemploy an outline, or stroke line, and may therefore appear as shading.Notes may also be associated with lines, shapes, shading or symbols toindicate other common qualities of the notes, or sections of the musicalpiece, such as usage of a sustaining pedal or controller.

FIG. 4 provides an illustration of how the notation system of thepresent invention can be easily adapted for music that contains notes ofshorter duration than quarter-notes. FIG. 4 shows a passage from J. S.Bach's “Two Part Invention 13”, which has a 4/4 time signature, butmakes extensive use of sixteenth-notes. To show this music in easilyunderstood fashion, the grid contains a total of sixteen horizontal beatrows for each bar, with intermediate heavy horizontal lines denotingquarter-note intervals. Accordingly, each beat row in FIG. 4 correspondsto a sixteenth-note.

Although the basic system of the present invention incorporateshorizontal rows each corresponding to a fixed time interval or beat,variations on this feature may be devised to facilitate representationof other musical characteristics. For example, selected rows could bemade of noticeably increased height to indicate a ritardando (decreasingtempo), or row lines could be removed altogether to indicate a rubatostyle (i.e., with tempo variations).

An additional feature of the present music notation system is theability to indicate the desired amplitude or loudness of the notes,according to the color or other visually-discernible texturing of thenote symbols. Preferred embodiments of the system use a color-basedprotocol for indicating loudness, and many variations of such a protocolare possible. However, a particularly preferred embodiment uses thefollowing color-based loudness protocol, corresponding to traditionalloudness notations:

-   -   Blue: pp (very soft)    -   Green: p (soft)    -   Yellow: mp (medium soft)    -   Buff: mf (medium loud)    -   Orange: f (loud)    -   Red: ff (very loud)

In the protocol shown above, the amplitude or loudness corresponds tothe wavelength of the color, such that quieter notes have a shorterwavelength (blue or green), and louder notes have a longer wavelength(orange or red), with notes of moderate volume being yellow. Longernotes may have gradations of color to indicate changing volume.

It will be appreciated that a variety of alternative protocols may bedeveloped for purposes of showing loudness. For example, differentstippling or cross-hatching patterns could be used to indicate differentloudness levels, thus allowing reproduction of music written inaccordance with the present invention without need for color printingfacilities.

The notation system of the present invention also makes it very easy toshow recommended fingering, by marking a finger number inside a givenrectangular or circular (or otherwise-shaped) note symbol 30. Examplesof such fingering notations 32 may be seen in FIGS. 1, 3, and 6.Preferably, the fingering notations 32 will be black (or another darkcolor) so as to provide sharp contrast to the loudness-indicatingbackground color (or shading) of the note symbol 30. Where thebackground color (or shading) is particularly dark, however, fingeringnotations 32 could alternatively be shown in a light color.

Alternatively or in addition, suggested fingerings may be depicted usinga hand symbol as shown in FIG. 6, with the suggested finger of each handcolor-coded as notes are highlighted. This method may be particularlyuseful when the input device or instrument is an electronicmultiple-touch (“multi-touch”) display, rather than a traditionalkeyboard. Another option to indicate suggested fingerings is to displayconnection lines between notes using the same finger, as illustrated inFIG. 7.

Additional vertical columns may optionally be provided at the leftand/or right sides of the grid to indicate supplementary musicalinformation. For example, as shown in FIGS. 1-4, a supplementary column12 may be provided at the left side of the grid to indicate musical keynotations 13 corresponding to individual bars of music (and/or to showguitar chord diagrams 14 as shown in FIG. 9). As shown in FIG. 1, afurther supplementary column 16 may be included to show supplementarytext 17 such as song lyrics. As shown in FIG. 9, another supplementarycolumn 18 could also be added to show instructions 19 for usage of thesustain pedal (for performance of music on a piano) or other inputdevices or sound-modifying controllers (e.g., pitch bender, wah-wahpedal, Leslie, etc.). In the particular example shown in FIG. 9, theinstructions 19 in supplementary column 18 relate to sustain pedalusage, with downward-pointing triangles indicating places in the musicwhere the pedal is to be depressed (“pedal down”) and upward-pointingtriangles indicating where the pedal is to be released (“pedal up”).

Tempo can be indicated in any convenient fashion, as desired. Forexample, tempo may be displayed at the top of the piece, and may beexpressed as number of beats per unit of time (beats per minute or beatsper second). Alternative units may be derived and displayed incomputerized versions of the system, such as frames per beat (for videoor computer applications of the system).

Music written in accordance with the notation system of the presentinvention may be represented or reproduced using a variety of media. Inaddition to being printed on paper media, music could also berepresented on a computerized digital display and displayed on a monitoror shown on video. These variants can be particularly beneficial tofacilitate the use of a color-based loudness protocol as previouslydescribed. In addition to displaying the notation, some electronicdisplays such as touch screens may be used as input devices. Embodimentsmay be configured such that touching a note on the screen results in thenote being sounded in the computer, using digital audio sound files, orMIDI notes in conjunction with a digital sound source. Embodiments maybe further configured such that multiple notes may be triggered from anelectronic display system that accepts multiple touch (multi-touch)input, enabling performance of musical pieces from a touchscreen ratherthan a traditional music keyboard.

For teaching purposes in particular, the system could be used inconjunction with a fixed medium, such as a whiteboard, on which thebasic notation grid is marked, with movable media that can be attachedor otherwise applied to the fixed medium to indicate musical notes. Forexample, the movable media could be variously-colored round orrectangular note symbols, with integral magnets so that they can beeasily applied to a grid marked on a ferrous-based whiteboard.

A zoom or pop-up feature in computerized or video versions of thesystem, or an inset in printed versions, can be used to show greaterdetail than may be practical in the overall view, such as to indicatemusical ornaments, trills, lyrics, effects, controller usage instructiondata, user comments, etc. For example, the letter “z”, a magnifyingglass icon, or some other symbol superimposed on a note could indicatethis type of additional information.

In another variant of the system, multiple grids are simultaneouslydisplayed, in such a way that layers of grids appear superimposed.Layers may be selected interactively by the user and may be selectivelyhidden, or may be viewed as “active” (i.e., prominently displayed) or“inactive” (i.e., less prominently displayed), with the symbols ininactive layers being colored grey. The additional grid layers may beused to indicate parts written or composed by different persons, partsintended to be played or sung by different persons, parts played bydifferent musical instruments, or different sounds produced by the sameinstrument. Where grey symbols in the shape of circles, squares and/orrectangles are present on the same grid location, outlines of thesymbols are presented in different shades of grey. Each layer isnumbered (e.g., chronologically), and contains a field for the name ofthe writer or composer, as well as an optional digital signature and/orother system for attribution or digital management of copyright. Printedcopies will normally contain the active layers as selected by the useror publisher, including attribution for the composers and/or writers ofthe active and original layers.

Other layers may be used to indicate the relevant chords and/or scalesthat are applicable at various times during the piece, with symbolsdisplayed on the first beat of a chord change, or persistentlythroughout the piece. These symbols indicate alternative notes,different from the notes specified by the composer, provided assuggestions for accompaniment, improvisation, or as variations on thetheme. Examples of such symbols are small filled dots to denote thenotes of a chord (as shown in FIG. 4), small outlines of dots for thenotes of a scale, and larger filled dots to denote chord roots. In thepreferred embodiment of this variant, these symbols are displayed asblack (when against a white background), white (when against a blackbackground), or violet. Other shapes and colors may also be used,provided that they are easily distinguishable from notes to be played asspecified by the composer. This layer may be displayed or hidden by theuser of a computerized version for display or printing.

Users of computerized variants of the notation system may be presentedwith an option to transpose symbols on the grid. Since the gridincorporates a chromatic layout of notes, symbols may be automaticallyshifted to the left or right, by the number of semitones specified bythe user, or by a standard number of semitones indicated by instrument(B-flat trumpet, E-flat saxophone, etc.).

Visual representations of music using the notation system will normallybe created with computer software, including spreadsheet, graphicediting, and other third-party or custom applications. Symbols may beentered manually, imported from other music notation systems, or viaMIDI (“Musical Instrument Digital Interface”).

When the notation system is represented on a computerized digitaldisplay, the screen may be configured to manually advance (i.e., scroll)using an input device such as a keyboard, foot switch, or microphone(preferably voice activated). In addition, when an electronic musicalinstrument in connected to the computer via MIDI, the rows may beconfigured to advance (or scroll) automatically—for example, when thecorrect notes are played in sequence. Automatic scrolling may also beconfigured to correspond to a predetermined tempo, with or without audioplayback such as a metronome or click track. Automatic or manualscrolling may be configured to advance the screen by row, bar, page, orother increment.

It will be appreciated that computer programmers of ordinary skill willbe readily able to develop suitable software to facilitate the tasks ofappending or inserting additional background grids and symbols, managingcomposer and writer attribution information, adding layers, selectinglayers, selecting notes, activating or deactivating layers, zooming,adding/editing/deleting notes, and playing notes (using MIDI) or digitalaudio (e.g., MP3 files). Desirable software features would includeclicking on a note symbol to play the note (using MIDI), clicking on abutton or icon to play digital audio, clicking on a blank grid box toadd a default note (e.g., a medium-volume legato note), click-and-dragto move a note, and double-clicking a note symbol to display a panelshowing all options pertaining to the note.

It will be readily appreciated by those skilled in the art that variousmodifications of the present invention may be devised without departingfrom the essential concept of the invention, and all such modificationsare intended to come within the scope of the present invention and theclaims appended hereto. It is to be especially understood that theinvention is not intended to be limited to illustrated embodiments, andthat the substitution of a variant of a claimed element or feature,without any substantial resultant change in the working of theinvention, will not constitute a departure from the scope of theinvention. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in itsnon-limiting sense to mean that items following that word are included,but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to anelement by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibilitythat more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearlyrequires that there be one and only one such element.

1. A method for visually representing music to be played on a keyboardinstrument, said method comprising the steps of: (a) providing a gridhaving vertical columns and horizontal rows, said columns correlating tothe black and white keys of a standard musical keyboard, and said rowsrepresenting time intervals; (b) applying selected note symbols to thegrid to indicate notes to be sounded in selected time intervals, witheach note symbol being visually representative of a selected tonequality and a selected note duration, in accordance with a predeterminedtone quality protocol and a predetermined note duration protocol; (c)applying a selected graphical treatment to each note symbol, with eachselected graphical treatment being representative of a specific soundintensity in accordance with a predetermined sound intensity protocol;(d) applying a first note-grouping means to selected groups of notesymbols to identify notes to be played with the left hand; and (e)applying a second note-grouping means to selected groups of note symbolsto identify notes to be played with the right hand; wherein said firstand second note-grouping means each comprise connecting linesgraphically connecting the note symbols in each selected group of notesymbols.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the note-grouping meansapplied to at least one group of note symbols also corresponds to asuggested performance instruction, in accordance with a selectednote-grouping protocol.
 3. The method of claim 1 wherein the notesymbols which may be selected in accordance with the tone qualityprotocol comprise one or more shapes selected from the group consistingof circular, rectilinear, triangular, oval, hexagonal, octagonal, andfree-form shapes.
 4. The method of claim 1 wherein the graphicaltreatments which may be selected in accordance with the sound intensityprotocol comprise a plurality of colors each representing a differentspecific sound intensity.
 5. The method of claim 1 wherein the graphicaltreatments which may be selected in accordance with the sound intensityprotocol comprise a plurality of graphical textures selected from thegroup consisting of a plurality of cross-hatching patterns eachrepresenting a different specific sound intensity.
 6. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising the step of applying fingering notations toone or more of the note symbols.
 7. The method of claim 1 wherein thegrid comprises one or more supplemental vertical columns containingsupplemental musical information.
 8. The method of claim 7 wherein thesupplemental musical information contained in the one or moresupplemental vertical columns is selected from the group consisting ofchord names, chord diagrams, ornaments, song lyrics, musical tempos,sustain pedal usage instructions, and sound-modifying controller usageinstructions.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein the music is visuallyrepresented on a paper medium.
 10. The method of claim 1, wherein themusic is visually represented on a computerized digital display.
 11. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the music is visually represented byattaching removable media to fixed media.
 12. The method of claim 1,wherein information relating to the music is visually represented on aset of multiple grids.
 13. The method of claim 13 wherein the multiplegrids are stored in a computer memory and wherein one or more of themultiple grids may be selectively displayed or hidden on a video displaydevice.
 14. The method of claim 1 in which the grid further comprises afield for identification of composers and copyright in respect of thesubject music.
 15. The method of claim 1 wherein the grid is stored in acomputerized device having video display and audio playbackcapabilities.
 16. The method of claim 16 wherein audio playback may beactivated by clicking on selected note symbols on the video display. 17.The method of claim 1 wherein the note-grouping means are selected fromthe group consisting of encircling shapes and shading patterns.
 18. Themethod of claim 1 further comprising the step of applying graphicalrhythm indication means to selected groups of horizontal rows in thegrid, to indicate suggested rhythms for performance of the music. 19.The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of applying graphicaldesign elements to the grid to indicate harmonic context.
 20. The methodof claim 1 wherein the vertical columns correlating to notes B, C, E,and F on a standard musical keyboard are distinctly wider than thevertical columns correlating to other notes.